upgrade from panther to leopard on mini mac. please help!!

[mikeminimac4now]

hi there, im new to macrumors forums and new to mac.
ive just bought myself a second hand mac mini 1.25ghz powerpc g4 with 256mb ddr sdram running mac os x 10.3.9 just to see if i can get on with a mac before i buy a macbook or something similar.

The reason ive bought the mac is because ive got an iphone and wanted to link the two together and ideally try to build an application on the mac to run on my iphone but as ive found out i need the latest os x 10.5.4 or .5 to run the sdk therefore my questions are these...

1. can i upgrade from 10.3.9 panther to 10.5.4 or .5 leopard?
2. what do i need for this, does it have to be done from a cd?
3. will i need to upgrade my ram in the mini mac from the standard 256mb as i read on the apple website that minimum requirements are 512mb or is this abit overkill?

many thanks in advance for any help,
mike!

 

[ergdegdeg]

According to the Apple site, you need the following to run Leopard:

* Mac computer with an Intel, PowerPC G5, or PowerPC G4 (867MHz or faster) processor
* 512MB of memory
* DVD drive for installation
* 9GB of available disk space

 

[Blue Velvet]

1. Yes. Do an archive and install.
2. Buy and install a copy of the Leopard DVD. The retail pack that looks like this.
3. On that machine, probably best to upgrade to 1Gb of RAM to get the best out of the Leopard/Mac experience. 512mb is a minimum but 1Gb will be smoother.

 

[mikeminimac4now]

thanks alot for the replies. just a quick question, what sort of ram do i need to buy, will any mac ram do the job or does it have to be a special type for this old system? any links would be great? many thanks!

 

[Blue Velvet]

This is just my personal opinion, but I'd rather rely on a supplier to spec it for me, so if it doesn't work I can return it. I like Crucial, never any problems, very fast delivery... use their 'Crucial Memory Advisor™ tool'. 1Gb for US$31 at the mo.

184-pin DIMM, DDR PC2700

They also have UK and EU sites.

 

[mikeminimac4now]

thank you for the great advice blue velvet. been great help just wondering is it the same as pc ram? thanks again!

 

[Blue Velvet]

just wondering is it the same as pc ram?

Probably. Possibly. I don't know. I don't have a PC.

All I know is that I've seen a helluva lot of people on this forum over the years self-spec their RAM for their particular Mac and then come here to tell us it doesn't work because it's not the right kind. In that instance, you usually have little recourse to return it to the supplier. However, if you ask a retailer to provide you RAM for a certain kind of Mac, then the onus is on them to give you the right kind.

I don't mind paying a little bit more for good, fast and reliable service. Crucial is next day delivery and it just works. I've heard people here also rate NewEgg, but I've never personally used them.

 

[mikeminimac4now]

excellent thank you! ill do that.
thanks again!!